


New York Soul(mates)

by DearTheodosia



Category: Now You See Me (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Date!AU, Foursome - F/M/M/M, Multi, Pen!AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-01
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-07-19 08:42:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7353934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DearTheodosia/pseuds/DearTheodosia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pen!AU- Whatever your soulmate writes on themselves shows up on you. (if you have more than one, you can specify by putting and initial before your writing.) Each soulmate has a different pen color.<br/>Date!AU- The first time you get writing (a conversation, not just ramblings) from a soulmate a date will show up on the bottom of your foot in their color. This is when you will meet. It goes M/D/Y</p><p>The title is a play on a Jon Bellion song called New York Soul.</p><p>    In the beginning, no one talked. No one asked names. They just were. They coexisted. Each with their quirks. And then one day, they started talking. And they didn't stop until they found each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prolouge.

**Author's Note:**

> OKay so this is my first time trying a soulmate au but this idea came to me and the damn plot bunnies had no chill okay. So here it is.

  They all had a brief idea of how it worked. It was a soulmate thing. Their parents could do it. Like a funny magic trick. They wrote on their own legs and palms and forearms and fingers, and it showed up on someone else very far away. Their soulmate. Whatever that meant.

   In the beginning, no one talked. No one asked names. They just did their own thing. They each had odd quirks. Henley was extremely gifted in art, always drawing murals down her arms and henna designs on her hands. Merritt was researching medical facts, writing down odd phrases or obscure afflictions down on his palms. Danny could pick up languages like nobody's business. He was writing entire Shakespearean passages down his forearm by age 7, and by age 9 he was translating them to Latin, Spanish, Italian, and French; and the list was always growing. Jack was really forgetful. Like _really_ forgetful. His upper arms were covered in lists, things he needed to do; movie ideas; and books he needed to read. After awhile they had developed a system. Henley got the left forearm and top of the left hand, because she was right handed, and Danny got the right forearm and top of the hand because he was left handed. Merritt got the palms, and Jack got the both left and right upper arms, being oddly ambidextrous.

   But one day, out of nowhere, after years of random writings and drawings and lists and medical phrases, Merritt decided to write on his leg. "HELLO" it read, in sloppy capitals. Sure enough, Danny responded first. "Hey. What is your name?" He wrote carefully under the "HELLO".  And before Merritt could respond, he felt a searing pain on the bottom of his left foot, almost like a brand, but not quite. The pain subsided after about five seconds, and a curious Merritt contorted himself to try and get a good look at the bottom of his foot. Sure enough, as his parents had told him there would be, a date was imprinted in black ink, each number an exact match to the handwriting of his unnamed soulmate. The date read 1/10/16. Snapping back into reality, he remembered he had been asked a question. "Merritt McKinney. And you?" He scrawled messily under his soulmate's precise print. Danny had gone back to reading in wait for his mystery partner's response, but after a quick second, he looked over and there it was "Merritt McKinney. And you?" it was so clumsily scratched under his writing he almost couldn't read it. He leaned forward to try and make it out better, but all of a sudden he felt the same searing pain Merritt had felt a minute earlier. And there, inscribed in Merritt's confused scribble of blue ink, "1/10/16". "Eleven years." Danny whispered to himself, shaking his head almost imperceptibly. "J. Daniel Atlas. But you can call me Danny." He wrote carefully on the top of his foot. And sitting there, however far away, Merritt whispered the name to himself, liking the sound of it.

   Abruptly, bright red letters lit up under Danny's last note. "What's up guys! I'm Jack! Jack Wilder!" Danny laughed at the boys obvious enthusiasm.  And at that moment, both Danny and Jack got the same blistering pain and the date 3/2/16 on their feet, and right after, Jack and Merritt, with a 3/4/16, both Merritt's and Danny's in Jack's bright red print. "DID YOU GUYS FEEL THAT?" Jack scribbled out in all capitals. "Yes" Danny responded at the same time Merritt wrote "Yup." Then, a couple moments later, pretty purple cursive appeared, curving down the outside of their legs. "Good lord. What has fate done?" All three boys laughed at the sudden wit of their newest soulmate. "I'm Henley Reeves, by the way." she spiraled out under her last comment. A second later, they all got stung with the date 9/6/16, in pretty curling purple.

   They talked all through the night, covering their bodies in scrawling ink, taking short breaks to scrub off old conversations, only to cover themselves again. They talked about anything and everything. Learning the in's and out's of each others minds. Learning each others likes and dislikes and pet peeves and secret talents and deep stories and senses of humor and the way they wrote and how they grew up. And by the end of the night, they knew each other like the backs of their hands, like one of Henley's designs or Jacks lists or Danny's paragraphs or Merritt's afflictions. Like they knew their own minds.

   And every day they filled each other in on what they were up to, and every night they talked until they fell asleep, always involuntarily. And this went on and on until the day they finally met; and even after, any time they were separated, they were never alone.


	2. 13 Days.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A huge time skip and a little backstory. Sorry it took forever. And sorry I'm such a tease. I promise they meet in the next one!!

It was December 29th, 2015. It had been years since that first night. Ten. Danny was 21 now. Henley was 20, Jack was 19, which left Merritt, ever the eldest, at 28.

As soon as December hit, the air outside began maintaining a steady 12 degree temperature, and was slowly declining throughout the month. Christmas had come and passed in a whirlwind of gift-wrap and Santa hats and "Merry Christmas" scrawled absentmindedly onto forearms. But things had calmed down since, and they had all fallen back into their usual rhythm.

Over the years, the presence of the dates had faded in and out of their minds. But today, it was all any of them could talk about. They had started with the regular morning notes and the breakfast questions before quickly moving on to the primary topic of the dates.

"Wait, so you guys will meet in 13 days?" Henley swirled out onto her left forearm. She was splayed out on a Starbucks beanbag, hot cocoa in hand.

"Yup." Merritt scribbled out mid-stride, on his way to grab lunch with his mother.

"Lucky dogs. We won't meet for months, and poor Henley doesn't get to meet any of us until September." Jack replied, slowly and lazily, having been in bed all day.

"Ha-ha." Danny printed under Jack's reply before turning back to the board meeting he was sitting in on.

Over the years they had all grown and developed, each reaching different levels of success in their professional lives. Jack had joined the military the moment he turned 18, coming back roughly a year later with a handful of medals and an honorable discharge. Henley got a full-ride scholarship at Pratt Institute, specializing in art, and more specifically, painting. She was waitressing on the side to help with living costs. Danny sold his first big business at 19, and had founded two more- very successful -businesses since. Merritt worked construction for some shitty company. But it paid the bills. So all in all, they were doing pretty well for themselves professionally.

Their personal lives were a bit more complicated, however. None of them had serious partners, with the whole soulmate thing, but that isn't to say they never slept around. Well, that isn't to say D _anny_ never slept around. Because he definitely did. Henley argued that she could if she wanted, but she never had the time, between classes and projects, talking to the guys, and extracurricular things, her schedule was packed. Merritt just didn't care enough to try and get people to sleep with him. Simple enough. Jack was a serial monogamist. Once he had a soulmate, even if they wouldn't meet for years, he didn't sleep around with anyone else, no matter what. Which was sort of ironic, considering he had three other soulmates. But they had actually had many serious talks on this subject, that usually went something like this:

"Guys I'm sorry, this is over, I met this girl last night. And let me tell you-" Danny would start with some line about how he found his true love.

"Danny we don't all need or want to hear about your sex gallivants." Henley would scrawl out quickly before he could start telling some story about some random girl's ass. They didn't need that shit, okay.

"Nah, man. This one sounds like the one." Merritt would egg him on just to bug Henley.

"I just don't understand how you find any appeal in telling your soulmates about your near-cheating." Jack would write, uncomfortable with the whole idea.

"It's really quite simple, Jacky. I wish to assert my sexual dominance over you all prior to our meeting." Dan would crack a joke about proving dominance or being the embodiment of the patriarchy. And then Henley would go on a hardcore rant about how white cis-gender straight men run the world or how just because he is a man doesn't mean he's dominant, and she could if she wanted to. Dominate, that is.

"Oh, I would be _so_ okay with that." Merritt would joke and everyone would be able to feel each others eye rolls. And then he would try to bring up one of his plentiful fantasies and everyone would -with the utmost subtlety- try to change the subject. And that would be the end of the conversation.

Their families weren't too interesting. Merritt's dad left when he was seven. His mom raised him on her own, and they were very close. Danny was the only child, and his parents were both still alive and together, showing up at all of his gala's and none of his parties. Henley's parents were both alive as well, but they lived in a much more homely fashion than the Atlas'. She had one older sister and two younger twin brothers. Jack's parents had gotten a divorce when he was 14, leaving him and his younger sister to switch between them. They were extremely close.

They had been through every bump together, over the years. They learned all of each others secrets and stories, and had picked up a banter and flow among themselves. Like one living organism. They knew how each other worked, and how they worked together. But at least a tiny part of all of them worried about how they would work together in person. Would they suddenly not be able to stand each other? Would it be a constant power struggle? They didn't know. But they were willing to find out.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is up for beta-ing for this, please let me know! (I could use it)


	3. A Day's End with Danny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 10-motherfucking-days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I knowwww it's short but I figured ya'll deserve something, ya know? So here is something. 
> 
> Also, considerably more swearing. It will soon be a norm. Hope that isn't a problem?

/Danny's POV/

  
10 days. Holy shit. 

I'm going to meet my soulmate in _10-motherfucking-days_.

  
Well. One of them. Whatever. Still counts, okay?

  
Needless to say, my head is a bit of a mess today.

  
I've been counting down the days until I met Merritt since the beginning of this year. And it has been both a tourturing and reassuring practice. The four of us have been talking for years. _Years_. And we've got this great flow and banter and way of working together that's amazing.

  
But I'm still worried. You see, the way we flow is great, but it all feels totally platonic. I mean, we make flirtatious jokes every now and again but it isn't like texting a girlfriend or boyfriend, you know? It's more of a friendly kind of flirtatious. And aren't these soulmate things suppose to be more than that?   
And what if we don't get along in person? What if everyone looks different than everyone else was thinking? What if they _hate_ me? What if they think I'm too skinny or frail or just plain ugly? What then?

  
God, my head is spinning.

  
I'm on my way to a café downtown to meet up with some friends from college and eat dinner. It's the first day of January and the temperature has dived into the negatives. Wrapped up in a large coat and scarf, I make my way out of a cab and into the restaurant. My friend Brendon is waving at me from the table. I sit down and order, immediately launching myself into the conversation. We talk while we eat. We talk about work, and our soulmates, and anything new since we've last seen each other.   
Eventually, we all finish and pay. They group exchanges slaps on the back and bro-hugs and promises to do this more often. And we go our separate ways. 

I go home and shower. Getting out, I change into some sweatpants and get in bed. I turn the light off and close my eyes for the night.


	4. Author's Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NOT A CHAPTER (i'm sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry)

> Okay y'all. I'm  _sorry_. I've been hella busy and stuff has just been going  **down** here on my end so I've had absolutely zero time to write. But I  _promise_ I am working on another chapter  right now. This is just to let y'all know that I am, in fact, alive, and to keep your eyes open for the next chapter. 
> 
>            xxTheo


End file.
